Video games and video game systems have become even more popular due to the marketing toward, and resulting participation from, casual gamers. Conventional video game devices or controllers use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as “haptic feedback” or “haptic effects”. Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment.
Other devices, such as medical devices, automotive controls, remote controls, and other similar devices wherein a user interacts with a user input elements to cause an action also benefit from haptic feedback or haptic effects. For example, and not by way of limitation, user input elements on medical devices may be operated by a user outside the body of a patient at a proximal portion of a medical device to cause an action within the patient's body at a distal end of the medical device. Haptic feedback or haptic effects may be employed devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to user regarding interaction of the medical device with the patient at the distal end of the medical device.
Conventional haptic feedback systems for gaming and other devices generally include an actuator for generating the haptic feedback attached to the housing of the controller/peripheral. However, in these conventional haptic feedback systems create a haptic sensation along the entire body of the device/controller. Such a device does not provide a targeted haptic sensation to the user for specific actions or locations. Also, relatively large actuators are needed to create a satisfactory haptic sensation when the haptic sensation is distributed across the entire controller. For example, and not by way of limitations, gaming tablets (as shown in FIG. 1) generally include a controller which includes handles with user input elements such as joysticks, buttons, and triggers, and a docking portions for receiving a tablet style computer. However, such a gaming tablet, with the tablet computer installed in the controller, may weigh over a kilogram. Producing haptic sensations on such a device requires large actuators.